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Undercover Men’s Fall 2021

Jun Takahashi turned his focus onto the kind of “everyday wear” that he favors for himself and that has consumed our lives in the past year: Knitted coordinates, monochrome tracksuits and cocooning puffer jackets, suited to life at home.

Of course, being him, he had to “put a bit of dark essence into the overall feeling of lightness and freshness,” he said over email. So there was still a touch of unease even in these overly familiar, overly worn silhouettes, most visibly in his use of the dark fantasies of Markus Akesson, an artist he admires and has featured in a past collection. A dusty gray puffer featuring a portrait of a young boy covered in butterflies printed all over the back was a particular highlight.

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Elsewhere, incongruity came across in formal touches on casual shapes, as in argyle patterns on knitwear sets; splashes of metallic or glossy leather pockets on cozy wool coats; long thin scarves made of knit roses, or the odd placement of a pocket on the back of bomber jackets and sporty parkas in bold primary tones, part of Takahashi’s Eastpak hookup.

Outdoorsy or classically tailored, the result felt like a wishful projection for normalcy, whatever that means in the Undercover universe.

Launch Gallery: Undercover Men's Fall 2021

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